Andaman Nominee Crackdown Targets Foreign-Held Villas and Land

Foreign buyers along Thailand's Andaman coast face a sharper enforcement climate after a large multi-agency operation targeting nominee shareholding structures across Phuket, Phangnga and Krabi. More than 500 officers carried out simultaneous raids over the weekend, inspecting 89 land plots with an aggregate estimated value of about 1.05 billion baht. Forty-eight suspects were detained, split between 27 Thai nationals and 21 foreigners drawn from Israel, France, the Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Switzerland and South Africa. The action marks the third phase of a widening campaign against arrangements that allow foreigners to control freehold land in contravention of the Land Code.

For non-Thais, the legal frame has not changed, but enforcement intensity clearly has. Foreigners cannot own land in their personal name. The workarounds that grew up around this rule, principally Thai-majority companies set up to hold villa plots, have always sat in a grey zone. What the southern raids signal is that authorities are now systematically auditing both ends of the structure: companies where Thai shareholders appear to lack the means to have made their investment, and companies where foreign shareholders openly hold more than half the equity yet still control land.

In Phuket, investigators flagged two distinct patterns. Ten companies were accused of acting as pure nominee vehicles for foreign principals, holding four plots worth around 116 million baht. A separate group of 39 companies was found holding land despite foreign shareholders owning more than 50 percent of the shares, covering 52 plots valued at roughly 115 million baht. Together these 49 companies controlled about 15 rai with a combined value of 231 million baht, a relatively small footprint in land terms but a significant one in capital value, reflecting the premium nature of west-coast villa sites.

Phangnga produced one of the more eye-catching cases. At the Sava Beach Hotel, officials found seven villas being let on a nightly basis without a hotel licence, a recurring theme in resort enforcement actions and a reminder that short-let operations in villa estates are increasingly scrutinised under hospitality, tax and zoning rules. A separate Phangnga company with foreign-majority ownership was found holding a nine-rai plot, prompting a complaint from the Takua Pa land office covering assets valued at 54 million baht. Across the province, nine suspected nominee companies were identified, controlling 17 rai worth about 269 million baht.

Krabi accounted for the largest share of arrests, with 38 suspects detained. The most prominent case named Tropical House Co, a developer of pool villas in Nuea Khlong, Nong Thale and Khao Thong with unit prices from 11.5 million baht. Investigators noted a gap between the company's registered capital of four million baht and its control of 16 land plots valued at around 200 million baht. Records showed full Thai ownership on paper, but police allege a Polish couple were the true principals, with Thai nominee shareholders fronting the structure. Several Thai shareholders across the cases were reportedly employees or relatives of directors with limited personal financial capacity.

The practical implication for foreign buyers is a recalibration of risk rather than a closure of the market. Long leasehold, typically a registered 30-year lease with documented renewal mechanics, remains the cleanest route for villa ownership in Thailand. Condominium freehold within the 49 percent foreign quota is unaffected and continues to function normally, which is one reason demand for branded high-rise stock in Phuket, Bangkok and Pattaya has held up. The structures now under pressure are specifically Thai-company holdings where the economic reality differs from the share register.

Due diligence standards are likely to tighten across the Andaman. Buyers acquiring villa product should expect law firms and reputable developers to evidence genuine Thai shareholder participation, audited capital contributions, and lease-based alternatives where appropriate. Resale liquidity for assets sitting inside questionable nominee companies may compress, while compliant projects could see a relative premium. Operators running unlicensed daily rentals out of villa estates also face a clearer compliance line, particularly in Phuket and Phangnga where hotel-licence enforcement has been escalating in parallel.

Authorities have indicated the campaign will extend beyond the three southern provinces. For long-stay residents and prospective buyers, the message is consistent with the direction of travel over recent years: Thailand remains open to foreign capital in property, but the channels are narrowing to those that match the letter of the law. Leasehold structures, condominium freehold, and licensed hospitality investments are becoming the durable categories. Nominee company freehold, long tolerated in practice, is moving from grey to red.